The other Bellboy

This year was my first year back since 2019 and the first time the kids have been back since 2017. Have to say I was apprehensive after the overcrowding and crush stories that I read of the post covid festivals, but we had absolutely no issues at any time. We were pretty low key participants this year, but just having a 'normal' chilled festival didn't expose us to any crowd issues at all. We didn't go out of our way to avoid anything (apart from the pyramid for most of Sunday). I've been going since 2007 and I didn't really see any difference this year at all. Sunday was a weird day, usually the day I don't enjoy anywhere near the pyramid, so we avoided that all day until the headliner, but as we all know that was deserted and I believe the rest of the day around there wasn't the usual crush. We saw lots of people leaving through gate C as we went in and out a couple of times, so I think there were less people on site on the Sunday than usual, so no guarantee for next year for you. I don't think you'll have any real issues when you go 🙂

I've now taken a reform Pilates intro class and booked in for a first proper session, thanks to reading about it on here. My problem is actually sitting down rather than standing! my hips / groin area give me serious grief when I sit down with a 90deg leg to body angle. Like a lot of people on here, I've been a regular, consistent exerciser all my life, so I don't think its so much about being unfit overall. Our bodies needs change as we get older and seeing people share their issues and experiences on here helps us think about trying new things that might help us. listening to our bodies and listening to others becomes ever more important as we age, what we try may not work, but nothing is lost by trying.

At Lovefileds they purposely put the wristbands on really loosely as they said that they tighten over the course of the festival. Neither my EPO or the Lovefields band did this for me, but the kids Lovefields bands were so tight by the time we got home ( 10days after the festival) that they were basically the same circumference as the kids arms, really tight. I don't know if the kids had somehow been accidently pulling the toggle down, but with mine the worry was that the bands could actually fall off without me realising. I could have easily given my wristbands to someone else to use and it wouldn't have been easy for anyone to check / prove who the band actually belonged too. Lovefields did record the EPO number that they had given me but there was no reg or ID details associated with it. They have said that for 2025 they will need their customers to have reg numbers, so this will allow the festival to have proper records to check against should anyone give their EPO to someone else.

The way I remember it being explained to me was that instead of having the piece of paper with the 5 lines on that the villager could write the names on at any time, they now had to supply the names in advance and they would be part of the printed ticket. This was explained to me by the host of the AirBnB that we stayed in after the festival in Pilton. When we first discussed it, they said the transfer process was no longer possible but when I questioned that further, they said it was still possible but was not as easy as before.

We noticed at gate C this year that they often had a barrier across the EPO access route, with it only slightly open and usually at least 2 people manning it, running through would have been impossible.

I'm sure someone will have said this somewhere later in the thread but the EPO wristbands do get scanned in and out and it would seem quite easy to add the extra bit of plastic to other wristbands in the future. The glamping site we were at, just took a note of which EPO number they gave us, nothing more than that, but next year they will want people to have registration numbers as well, so I guess then the festival will have a persons details / image to check up on for any scams using them?

Not directly related to how these guys got in, but there was a change this year to the process for the 5 names that could use a Village ticket and for next year the glamping EPO wristband users will have to have a registration number. Presume both of these are small steps towards closing some of the other possible routes in?

The only time I got searched when going through gate C at 8.00 am on the Saturday morning, they first wanted to check my tote back - which had 4 empty plastic bottles that I was taking the chance to fill up whilst going in to collect some light wristbands, told them and showed them what was in there and was waived on, moved 5m further forward and was then approached by another guy, thought he wanted to check the bag too, told him with a cheery smile the same and like a real grumpy c*nt he just grumbled something about checking my pockets, he half arsed around for 30 secs continuing his lovely demeanor and then it was all over. I had a small amount of tablets in my pocket which he completely missed. For me it just seemed they were checking everyone at that time as there were more of them then there were of us.

Thanks, that's the way we are planning to be heading and with it being later, I'm hopeful that it will be quiet and quick to get in, its all about timing for us, can't check in till 12, and don't want to miss any more time inside.

Drove past Pylle lane earlier and have been in and out of Glastonbury and everything is moving well at the moment, seen a steady flow of campervans all day, but nothing heavy at all yet

Hi all, thought it would be useful if people who are on the blue route could post updates of how long the queue is, we are heading in tomorrow for noon and I've no idea how bad the traffic can be at that time, I'm guessing not too bad, but real time updates would be useful. Does Worthy FM include these updates? Thanks all and safe travelling for those setting off soon. Its getting warm down here, so the forecast for tomorrow looks spot on - keep safe everyone. PS sorry if this is covered anywhere else.

Checked into our final pre-festival accommodation and bought my booze, next its time to sort out the clothes so we can drop some bags off at the post-festival house tomorrow. Saw quite a few campervans with festival tickets on them as we drove from Ditcheat to Frome and back, guess these are likely to be workers. Also noticed that security are now posted at a lot more places than they were on Wednesday.

Its perfect down here at the moment, absolutely perfect.

Picked up our Lovefields blue route and car park passes and our Village access pass, so we are now all set at last 🙂

Had a drive through a couple of the campervan fields and through the Lovefields today and i'm sure it won't be a surprise that the ground is rock hard and is looking perfect for next week